I am right handed and I find that using the [BACK] Button on the keyboard is clumsy, and using the Back Browser Button is slower than simply closing a new window.

I wonder if Jakob Nielsen is Left Handed?

Regardless, I also disagreed with the assessment that new browser windows are bad. On the contrary!

To me, logic says a surfer navigates thinking "I am here at site A, because I am interested in site A"...."I see a link for site B, but I'm not sure if I want to spend much time there"..." what if site B whose links simply says Clowns, turns out to be Clown Porn?"...."I'll want to close that window really fast and go back to the safety of Site A".

I can see keeping the same window open...

I am right handed and I find that using the [BACK] Button on the keyboard is clumsy, and using the Back Browser Button is slower than simply closing a new window.

I wonder if Jakob Nielsen is Left Handed?

Regardless, I also disagreed with the assessment that new browser windows are bad. On the contrary!

To me, logic says a surfer navigates thinking "I am here at site A, because I am interested in site A"...."I see a link for site B, but I'm not sure if I want to spend much time there"..." what if site B whose links simply says Clowns, turns out to be Clown Porn?"...."I'll want to close that window really fast and go back to the safety of Site A".

I can see keeping the same window open when you are staying within the same site, and for sure when remaining in the same subdirectory. But regardless of whether the links is internal or to an external site, if using the back button is going to require that you reload a ton of info (e.g. blogs whose posts span months with hundreds of links & photos).

As a web designer for nearly a decade, I can tell you that 10 years from now this will still be debated...provided the web hasn't been replaced by something yet to be invented!

I have a trackball that has forward and back buttons. Before that I would right click to go back. And I have an extension where I can middle click and do things like forward and back and all the way back to the first page and so on.

Other than that, I agree that I often prefer new windows when going off site. I didn't feel that way until I started using tabbed browsing though. With IE and FF and Opera all having tabbed browsing, I think a new window generally isn't that big a deal with most people anymore. But back in the days when you could end up with browser windows everywhere, it was a big deal. And with FF (not sure on IE since it has been so long since I used it) a right click will op...

I have a trackball that has forward and back buttons. Before that I would right click to go back. And I have an extension where I can middle click and do things like forward and back and all the way back to the first page and so on.

Other than that, I agree that I often prefer new windows when going off site. I didn't feel that way until I started using tabbed browsing though. With IE and FF and Opera all having tabbed browsing, I think a new window generally isn't that big a deal with most people anymore. But back in the days when you could end up with browser windows everywhere, it was a big deal. And with FF (not sure on IE since it has been so long since I used it) a right click will open a link in a new tab. So really, I don't care much either way.